"Unidentified Planes Sighted": The Application of KOCOA Military Terrain Analysis to Aerial Combat

Author(s): Madeline J. Roth; Jennifer F McKinnon

Year: 2018

Summary

KOCOA military terrain analysis is a tool used to interpret and analyze terrestrial, and more recently, naval battlescapes; however there has been little experimentation with the application of KOCOA to aerial combat. Renewed interest in the June 1942 attack on Midway atoll (coinciding with the 75th anniversary of the attack) presented researchers with an opportunity to expand KOCOA definitions to incorporate aerial combat into terrain analysis. The resulting terrain features were used to reconstruct both the physical landscape and the events which took place in June 1942, adding new dimension to battle narratives associated with the attack. As the atoll’s geographical isolation limits engagement with tangible heritage, the KOCOA data were further used to create digital outreach materials which address the atoll’s tangible and intangible heritage.

Cite this Record

"Unidentified Planes Sighted": The Application of KOCOA Military Terrain Analysis to Aerial Combat. Madeline J. Roth, Jennifer F McKinnon. Presented at Society for Historical Archaeology, New Orleans, Louisiana. 2018 ( tDAR id: 441598)

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Keywords

Temporal Keywords
1942

Spatial Coverage

min long: -129.199; min lat: 24.495 ; max long: -66.973; max lat: 49.359 ;

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 244